Filling and weighing machine



w. L. TAYLOR FILL'ING AND WEIGHING MACHINE Filed 001. 14. 192'1 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 8, 1927.

W. L. TAYLOR y FILLING AND WEIGHING MACHINE F'iled Oct. 1:4. 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 8, 19.27.

W. L. TAYLQR FILLING AND WEIGHING raAcuINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 llllll Filed Oct. 14, 1921 ww m Nov. s, 1927. 1,648,077

w. L. bruma FILLING 'Aun wmulm'r mutua 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Nov. s, 1927. 1,648,077

w. l.. TAYLOR FILLING AND WEIGHING MACHINE Filed oct; 14, 1921 5 sheets-'sheet 5 III! immuun Patented Nov. 8, 1927.

UNITED STATES 1,648,017 PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM L. TAYLOR, OF BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR T JOHNSON .AUTO- MATIC SELLER G0., LTD., OF BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN,l A. PARTNERSHIP A.ASSOI- GIATION LIMITED OF MICHIGAN.

FILLING AND WEIGHING MACHINE.

Application led October 14, 1921. Serial No. 507,687.

The present invention is an improvement in filling .and weighing machines, and is particularly designed for use with the scales used in automatic weighing and packaging and, particularly, is an instrumentality used to handle material having non-free flowing characteristics.

Materials having a high water content such as soap powder and brown sugar; ma-

terial the deliquescent properties of which are high, such as powdered sugar, cornv starch and gypsum products; oily materials such as cocoa; fancy cake flour carrying milk, shortening, etc. that requires only the addition of water; allspice, ginger, mustard and nutmeg-present a problem in automatic packaging that has not heretofore been successfully solved. Indeed, these materials have, for the most part, been packaged by hand, though some rather successfully by automatic machinery.

With soap powder, for example, the well known Gold Dust having 42% moisture, it has been found that the material could not be rapidly and surely fed from the hoppers into the packages on the scales because 4of the packing and lumping of the powder. This condition was. intensified on days when atmospheric conditions were bad; 80 and many attempts have heretofore been made by the art to solve the problem of an efficient hopper from which the soap powder could be efficiently and surely fed into the the packages under all conditions. The present invention solves this problem for the rst time. The invention resides in a structure having an imperforate horizontal support on which the material is deposited from a chute or otherwise, with feeder agitators moving the material laterally along said surface and f into a feed hopper in which is mountedal second feeder agitator.` Preferably, a pair of such hoppers are rovided, one for the rough load and theY ot er. forv the drip stream. The bottom of the hop er or hoppers is or are closed by a suita legate or shutter. The feeder agitator that moves the soap powder into the hoppers from the imperfow rate support is run much slower than the;

feeder agitator in the hoppers. All of these feeder agitators operate only when the hop pers are open and the material is flowing into the packages -or other receptacles. Further, if a pair of hoppers are employed, one for the rough load and the other for the dri stream, the former is preferably operate faster than the latter.

The invention will be better Lunderstood by reference to the accompanying drawings,

illustrating one expression of the inventive idea, and wherein Fig. 1 is an end elevation;

Fig. 2 is a plan View;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation with part of the casing broken away to show the feeder agitators;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the driving connections for the various feeder agitators and themeans for operating the hopper closures; i

Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2; and

Fig.. 6 is a detail of one of the hopper closures.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals indicate like parts, 10 is a main hopper or receptacle into which the material ,is fed from achute (such as a tapered pipe larger at the bottom than at the to or otherwise) through opening 11 centra y disposed `in the top of the same. The material falls on an imperforate surface 12 immediately under said opening 11. This surface is preferably curved in cross section as clearly shown in Fig. 5L The material is .fed laterally along this surface into a pair of auxiliary feed hoppers 13 and 14 from which it is fed into the packages or receptacles to be lled. As herein illus-- trated, 13 is the rough load hopper and 14 is the drip stream hopper, and said hoppers, together with the main receptacle, form a unit disposed above instrumentalities to be' presently described. The bottom of hopper 13 is provided with a closure 15 14 with a closure 16.

The ortable containers or receptacles to be fill aremoaed along a way or support 13 (Fig. 3) by any suitable conveyor such as a chain or belt 14 provided with ushers 15 `and. saidwa preferably inclu es the' and hopper scale platform 16 16" disposed belowhopi intermittently in the direction of the arrows, hopper 14 is rotated -at a slower spd.

each container stopping1 momentarily under hopper 13 to recelve t e rough load, after which the container is moved below hopper 14 where it stops momentarily to receivethe final load and is finally weighed.. As herein shwn,ltwo containers are positioned under the hoppers so as to simultaneously receive material therefrom, other containers are' in position to be moved under the hoppers, an

a filled. and weighed container has been pushed olf the scale platform 1-6 for delivery to a top-sealing machine or othero instrumentality (not shown).

The Ameans for feedingthe material through the main. and auxiliary hoppers intov the -cartons or other portable containers preferably comprises the 4following devices.

Mounted in the end walls 17 and 18 of the main hopper is a shaft 19 on which 1s mounted a plurality of feeder agitators 2O referably in the form of stout curved wires.

he wires on the right hand side of the center of the main hopper feed the material into the feed hopper 13 and those on the left into feed hopper 14. These wires are spaced and arranged so that they not only feed kthe material, but also simultaneously agitate the same and break all lumps; and the wires are arranged to closely approach .the walls so that the same are kept clean and free from accumulations. As illustrated, these wires pass'through openings in the shaft 19 and each is held in place by any suitablem'eans as a set screw 21. Anyv suitable number of wires 20 to effectively `feed and agitate the material may be utilized, this depending v'somewhat on the particular kind of material being handled.

The end walls 17 and 18 of the main hopper exactly coincide with' the end walls 'of n the feed ho pers 13 and 14, thus preventing any accumu ation of material at these points. In feed hopper 413 is mounted a shaft 23 which carries a plurality of similar feed,

agitators 24. -As herein illustrated, four are employed though thenumber may be varied. The end wire 20 on shaft 19 is directly over the feed hopper-`13 and may operate in the same, the rotation of shafts 19 and 23 being so timed that wires 2 0 and 24 do not clash.

In hopper 14 is mounted a shaft 25 carrying wires 26 asin the arrangement in hopper 13. Indeed, except for a ifferent speed of rotation of shaft 25, the construction and oplarationof the two hoppers are preferably a 1 e. t

The various feeder agitators are. rotated only when the closures 15 and 16 have been moved to open position, and shaft 19 is rotated only fast enough to fill thehoppers 13 and 14. As low as about 10 revolutions per minute has been found sufficient. Shaft 23 in the roull load hopper is rotated at on a short shaft 33 carried in standards on the scale frame 34. Shaft 33 is driven from main shaft 35 (driven from the motor) of the scale through suitable connections, as sprocket chain 36 and sprocket Wheel 36 and 36'. on shaft 33 and shaft 35, respectively, the latter sprocket 36" being loose on shaft 35 and clutch-controlled, in a manner well known in the a'rt.

Shaft 25 in the drip stream hopper 14 is driven from-shaft 33 through a sprocket chain 37 passing around sprocket wheels 38 on shaft 33 and sprocket wheel 39 on shaft 25. The shaft 25 is operated intermittently by means of a cam that engages a roller 71 carried in one arm of a clutch lever 72 pivoted at 73, said clutch bein associated with s rocket 36". and the s aft 23 is operate intermittently by means of a similar clutch mechanism (not shown) mounted on shaft 35, and associated with sprocket 44.

Shaft 23 in the rouoh load ho per is driven from a short slaft 40 Wli mounted on the side of the machine remote from' shaft 33 (Fig. 4). -This shaft 40 drives shaft 23 through sprockets 40 and 23 and sprocket chain 41, and is in turn driven from shaft 35 through sprocket chain 42 which passes around a sprocket 43 on shaft 40 and sprocket 44 on shaft 35 the latter sprocket 44 being lo'ose and clutch-controlled, in a manner well known in the art.

The bottom of hoppers 13 and 14 are preferably curved in cross-section and each is provided with a pair of slides 45 and 46 (Figs. 1 and 6) which are moved toward and .from eachother either manually or otherwise,.in guides 47 ,and 48 to regulate the size of the opening. The closures or shutters 15 and 16 are preferably identical in construction.` As here shown, each has a pair of ich is.

flanges 49 and 50 to which is attached one d which armv 51 swings loose onshaft 25, arms 51 and 57 being fastened to a collar 58 so that said arms and collar 'rotate together I, underthe .influence of cam 54. As shown at the left in Fig. 4, arms 51 4and 57and sleeve 58 areconneeted bya key 58', these parts at this `rpoint being spreadfapart or n l speed than t to l separated to show the construction.

he shutter 15 for the rough load hopper 13 is identical with that just described but is driven from cam 59 on shaft 60 which latter is driven from shaft'35 by sprocket chain 61 passing around sprocket wheels 60 on shaft 60 and 35 on ,shaft 35. Said cam 4acts on a roller 62 carried in one end of arm 63 pivoted on shaft 64 which latter has rigidly secured thereto one end of arm 65, the upper end of whichl is connected to one end of link 66. The other end of said link is connected to the end of'arin 67 mounted loosely on shaft 23 and connected to arm 51, the function of which is the same as that of arm 57. Thelinks 56 and 66 are preferably made in two parts, an adjustable connection being provided at 66 (Fig's.`2, 3 and 4).

For purposes of inspection and access,

the hopper 1s provided with a pair of pivoted doors 68 and 69 (Fig. 3) these being arranged directly over the feed hoppers.

The o eration of the deviceA is as follows:

The slides and 46 are first opened to the desired extent. The material is thenintro# duced into the main hopper through. the

orifice 11 and is fed laterally along vthe surface 12 into the rough load hopper 13 and the ldrip stream hopper 14. Through the connections describedv the feeder agitators, both in the main hopper and the feed hoppers, are rotated only when the shutters 15 and 16 have been moved as described to open the bottoms of said hoppers 13 and 14. Accordingly, the material, even soap powder with 3.42% moisturecontent, is fed into thev cartons freely and in a finely divided condition', even on da s and`under conditions when it is impossible to package the mateper are employed the feeder a tators in t former are 'referably rotate at a higher Ee feeder agitators in the latter. While one 'embodiment of the inventive idea has been herein shown and described in lgreat detail,lit is Vto be understood that theVA invention is not limited thereto but that various modifications may be made within the limits ofthe appendedclaims. For example, if desired, only one feed hopperfmay be employed as it will sometimes happen that one will answer all the requirements, as on a gross weight scale. Further, while the inventive idea has been shown as embodied rapidly. When a supporton which the 4material is deposited,

in a hopper or hoppers for a scale, it is to be understood that the improvement may be used for feeding materials in other relations.

What is claimed is: L

' 1. In combination, a receptacle yprovided with an imperforate support on which the materialis deposited, feed hoppers arranged at-each extremity of said support, feeding and agitatin means removing the material periodically fromsaid support into said feed hoppers, feedin vand agitating means in each hopper, a s utter closing-the bottom of each hopper, means periodically opening said shutters, means drivin agitating vmeans only w en the shutters are open, means for driving the first-mentioned feeding and agitating means slowly, and means driving the individual feeding and agitating means rapidly.

2. In combination, a support on which material is deposited, hoppers at opposed extremities of said support, a device for feeding material in opposite directions along the'sup'port and into said hoppers, and means in each hopper operatively connected with said feeding device for discharging material from the hoppers into receptacles.

3. In combination, a receptacle having a support on which the material is deposited,-v

a rough load hopper at one 'extremity of said support, a drip stream hopper at the oppo-V device at eachhopper for discharging material fromthe same into a container, and mechanism operatively connecting thesaid feeding means and discharging devices for driving the former slowly and they latter 4. In' combination, a rece tacle having a a rough load hopper lat one extremity of said support, a drip stream hopper at the opposite extremity of the. support, means for feeding the material in'opposite directions along rsaid su port and into said hoppers, aI device at eac hopper for discharging material fr'oin` the same, and mechanism operatively connecting said feeding means and' dischargin slowly an high speeds.

the latter at. relatively different n testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

' WILLIAM L. TAYLOR.

devices for driving the former 

